Heart Piercer
by Footprints
Summary: When the crew decides to go after Edmund Rome, a 50 million bounty, everything is looking good. That is, until they meet the competition. Now, the crew must catch Rome and remain alive while doing so. Ain't life full of challenges?
1. Default Chapter

Heart-Piercer

By Water/Air  
  
I don't own Cowboy Bebop but I do own the original characters in this story.

--

Prologue

--

Rome ran as fast as he could that moment. He felt the gun going off in his hands, accidentally killing that man. "Why? Why me?" he had asked himself. There was no time to mourn anymore though.  
  
The bounty on his head was enormous. "Today buckaroos, we got Edmund Rome, worth 50 million wuolongs, remember, you must bring him in alive and well," Punch had said. Rome was actually worried about the bounty so he watched the show everyday. He was also in a constant sorrow. He didn't want to be executed.  
  
As Rome turned the corner, he heard the bounty hunter turning the corner. Rome felt a pain and heard a gunshot. He felt his shoulder freeze up in a sharp pain. Rome cried out but turned a corner quickly, blood dropping between his fingers.  
  
Then it was over, Rome's run was over. As he turned the corner, a dead end was there to meet him. The angels cried out and the world crashed upon him. Rome had given up hope. He looked at the wall; it was the only thing keeping him from freedom. Why did an inanimate object have to stop him? It was so pathetic.  
  
He heard a noise then and knew that the bounty hunter was behind him with a gun in hand. "Okay, let's go slowly," he said. Rome turned his head to see a skinny kid (who seemed barely 17), who looked like a thug with a red Mohawk carrying a .50 caliber. 

_Kids these days._

Rome smiled at the irony, he was just 22 and barely out of diapers. Now he sounded like an old man. _Well, I'm about to die so why not?_ He asked himself. Then his eyes widened.  
  
"Come on, man!" the kid said. The broad realization hit him. He had nothing to lose, he was dead either way. One alone, the other in front of public servants. His teeth gritted in anger. He didn't deserve this, it was an accident.  
  
"Last call," the kids said.  
  
Screw it...  
  
Hell, I'll take my chances...  
  
Rome pulled the gun out of his pocket, turned and fired his entire clip. The bullets hit the kid in the chest, his eyes widened and he fell back, blood seeping into the ground. Rome felt a great sorrow run over him then. He was just a kid, he couldn't have...  
  
_No, you made the decision to hunt me and now you pay the price. Welcome to life kid...  
  
_Rome almost laughed at the irony.


	2. Rome On A Platter

Chapter 1: Rome On A Platter  
  
"Come on, doc."  
  
"I want the pay."  
  
"Five percent for a finder's fee? We aren't the cops, now you either tell us or screw off."  
  
"You have no manners, Spiegel."  
  
"Does it matter in what tone of voice I tell you?....... fine, maybe one percent if the info's good."  
  
"You drive a hard bargain, maybe next time I won't even tell you."  
  
"The doctor wouldn't neglect his favorite patient would he?"

--  
  
Faye paged through the last of her new magazines quickly. She was surprised at all of the ads and the lack of an actual magazine. It was what she got from ordering via internet from a site that looked extremely homemade rather than a professional website.  
  
Unfortunately, it was all she could afford with her common trips to the casinos and, in the most common cases, never getting the bounty at all. The last good bounty they had caught was in Ganymede and that was about a month ago.

She looked up at Edward typing, searching for the big 50 million reward. Spike was somewhere and Jet was visiting his contacts. The whole thing was going smooth. At the rate it was going, Faye could easily mooch the info off of Ed or Jet before they all talked it over and could get the whole reward herself.  
  
The door opened and Spike walked through, stretching his arms and looking around. He walked straight to Ed, looking over her shoulder to see if she had dug up anything. All he saw was the messed up websites in a weird looking ocean.

He was never too good at understanding the Internet. That was Ed's thing. He was more about the physical action, while Jet was about research and Faye was a finder, meaning she had an uncanny knack of running into the bounty (sometimes without knowing it) and screwing it up so he could get it.  
  
"Where's Jet?" Spike asked, lazily looking from Faye to Ed.  
  
"So what did the doctor tell you?" Faye asked, calmly, not wanting Spike to catch on.  
  
"Where's Jet?" Spike repeated.  
  
Faye sighed. "Fine, he's with one of his contacts or something, now what did the doctor say?" she asked.  
  
"I'll tell you when Jet gets back," Spike said walking away.  
  
"Hey wait!" Faye stood up, her magazine dropping to the floor. Spike turned to her and she knew she had his attention.  
  
"Say, you tell me now and we split the bounty.... oh... 50/50?" she asked, the words carrying a sound that was meant to tempt Spike into taking the offer.  
  
"I don't think Jet will appreciate that," Spike said.  
  
"Who cares? Look you have to take a risk sometimes," Faye felt that she was actually getting through to him but Spike turned.  
  
"Not interested, besides I would have to answer to Jet and now only you have to," Spike said walking away. Faye's eyes widened as she heard Jet clear his throat behind her.

--  
  
Ed was almost there, she had spent hours hacking the information from the Mars Central Government Files about Edmund Rome and she had almost hit the main source. She removed her goggles for a second and rubbed her eyes. She wanted to be awake when she saw this.  
  
She looked to see Ein sleeping off to the side. He was a in a deep slumber that Ed didn't dare disturb. "Ed must sleep like Ein after this," she said before putting the goggles back on and letting her vision turn colorful from the screen. She had started the hacking program that she hadn't been able to use before because of all the firewalls that she had to get rid off. But now she could use it and she was almost done.  
  
When she finished, Jet would make a special dinner and Spike and Faye would congratulate her and she could sleep. The thought of sleep to Ed felt so absorbing and calm that she was almost tempted to sleep right then. She could dream of fantasies of Jet making a special and Spike and Faye congratulating her because she knew in the real world, it wouldn't happen.  
  
She would get the usual silent praise and then would be ignored. She looked at Ein. Ein would be happy with her though... Ed was mad for a minute and then she realized that this was the way it always was. The crew was way too callous and independent to actually express any real emotion to one another and that was the way it had been. Ed had never shown the crew her emotions either, everything was mutual.  
  
Then the hacking program started and Ed forgot all about the Bebop crew and everything that had to do with them and focused on the smiley faces that were eating through security. Radical Edward had struck again.

--  
  
"So what did the doc say?" Jet asked turning to Spike.

Faye let out an angry growl and looked away from behind Jet. Spike knew that Jet had been chewing her out and giving her a lecture for the past twenty minutes. Spike also knew the feeling that Faye was feeling. A strong feeling of contempt and strangely guilt because Jet had a way with words that could make you feel guilty.  
  
"Said that Rome came into his office about a week ago, he had a bullet hole in his shoulder so the doc fixed him up and then he was gone," Spike explained.  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"Anything else?" Jet and Faye's voices overlapped each other.  
  
"Not really, besides the fact that Rome had a tattoo of a rose on his hand, otherwise I have no description," Spike said.  
  
"What about Big Shot?" Faye asked.  
  
"They got his picture but Ed might just get the info before hand," Jet said. Then he looked from Spike to Faye, before hearing a yell from Ed. Jet, Spike, and Faye hurried into the room to find Ed having a fit on the floor.  
  
"Oh... why o why o why!" she yelled throwing her arms and legs in the air.  
  
"What happened Ed?" Jet asked.  
  
Ed looked at Jet. "Mean hacker broke Ed off!" she cried.  
  
"You got cut off?" Faye asked.  
  
Ein walked forward pushed a button with his nose. A note came up on Ed's message box:  
  
Dear RE,  
  
YoU CaN TrY aLl YoU WaNT buT, It'S NO UsE. i JuSt ShUT U DoWn So dOn't CoMe BaCk. CoNSeQUEnces wIll bE DiRE...  
  
SiGNed,  
  
Mo Use

"Who the hell is Mo Use?" Faye asked.  
  
"Another hacker maybe?" Spike suggested.  
  
"Who the hell is better than Edward?" Faye responded back. Knowing Edward's skill. She had arranged an interactive channel in record time, a very difficult task. Which meant that the Bebop was in trouble if this guy was better than Edward. He could probably infect a virus automatically and Faye knew that it could mean sudden death.  
  
"Well, then? I guess we are out of options," Jet said.  
  
"Big Shots is on," Spike said.

--  
  
"I swear I don't know anything," the large man was holding the smaller man who was panicked. He was just a street punk who happened to have a large enough mouth to attract the attention of such a dangerous person.  
  
The large man's face was serious. He didn't have time to interrogate this guy. This guy acted scared but he should have been honored for being interrogated. It wasn't every day that you met a legend. The large man picked up the smaller man and threw him into the brick wall.... almost.  
  
His hand stopped short and the short man was hanging an inch away from the wall. His pants grew wet and it started to reek. "Now listen to me!" the large man demanded. "I will make sure that your head breaks this wall if you don't tell what I want to know,"  
  
The street punk didn't want trouble; he just wanted to get out of this situation. He looked at the large man. That was it. He didn't care what happened to him anymore. He would tell. "Okay, I'll tell you..."  
  
Rally was going to kill him...

--

Author's Note: So how did you like it? Insight would be greatly appreciated so please read and review. Thanks.


	3. No Disappointments

Chapter 2: No Disappointments  
  
"What a bastard," Fredrick said sitting in the diner, looking around at the space outside.  
  
"It couldn't be that bad," one man said around him.  
  
"Look at my ship!" Fredrick exploded at the man. "That truck out there, it's wrecked to Bejesus! It'll take at least a million wulongs to fix and that means I'm stuck, without transportation and I have to find a new job to get it paid off!"  
  
"Just calm down," Silverfang said, "We'll think of something."  
  
A woman turned at the bar and looked at the men then. "Whatcha talking about?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing," Fredrick said as he glared angrily into space.  
  
"Hey, hit and runs happen all the time, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time," the woman said.  
  
Fredrick was not in the mood to hear from a woman. He was never too good with them and was throughoutly pissed with them. He didn't need to be lectured by a woman; he would take his own advice. "Shut up you bitch, I didn't ask you," Fredrick yelled back at her.  
  
Surprisingly, the woman wouldn't back down. She just stood and looked at Fredrick. "And you call yourself a trucker," she said as she turned around.  
  
Fredrick was through. He was also pissed and it took all the strength of the guys to hold him back from slugging the woman. "Hey don't get excited. You'd be hitting real legend there," one of the men said.  
  
"A legend?"  
  
"Yep, that's VT," the same man said.  
  
"T..the same VT who did that two day trip on Earth?" Fredrick couldn't believe it. He had insulted a legend. He didn't even know it, how stupid was he? Fredrick thought this and was overcome with guilt and embarrassment. VT... damn.  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't..." one man tried to encourage but stopped.  
  
"Uh, sorry VT..." Fredrick managed to say, pulling himself up to the counter of the bar.  
  
"Yeah... don't mention it," VT said coldly. She was learning to like bounty hunters a bit better. At first, she blamed the job for taking away her husband and then shunned others because of it. One man had made her believe in them again. Now she owed him far more than he had taken credit for. VT wanted to make sure that he got what he deserved.  
  
"What a coincidence, huh? You ran into a man that was worth more than he broke," one of the truckers laughed.  
  
"Yeah but that is a dangerous job, better to let the hunters take care of 'em," Fredrick said back.  
  
VT turned and looked at the truckers. Were they talking about a hunt? "Hey fellas," she called out.  
  
They turned toward her, some with awe and some with contempt but answered. "What?"  
  
"Who was behind the hit and run?" VT asked, acting all cool about it, like she didn't care at all.  
  
"You wouldn't believe it, a five million wuolong bounty. Turned out that he was a junk collector or something and steals trucks," one of the truckers said.  
  
"A bounty head? What's his name?"

--  
  
Jet didn't like being at the end of the ropes, helpless and dependent entirely on a luck situation, that was Spike's thing. Jet liked to be prepared instead of surprised. Spike was soldier, and Jet was the General. When the planning went AWOL, you had to depend on hope, and the job of the general was done. Jet really hated this.  
  
That was where he was, sitting on the couch, waiting desperately for some news from Ed or Faye or Spike. Bob hadn't been much help besides telling him that the guy he was looking for killed a room full of cops and then a few more bounty hunters. Rome was only 22, which meant that he was an assassin or very lucky.  
  
With luck on his side, the only person that could possibly catch him was Spike who had a greater sense of luck on his side. Circumstances were all that it came down to. Now he was thinking like Spike.  
  
"Dammit!" he cursed aloud as the communicator rang. Jet looked in surprise then bolted for it, picking it up and letting a picture form on screen. "Jet," he said. He looked and saw a woman on the other side that he had never seen before.  
  
"Are you a friend of Spike's?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, he's not here right now," Jet said. Meanwhile he was thinking about how many crazy friends Spike had made, most were almost intolerable but some were okay. Jet had a feeling that woman was okay.  
  
"That's okay, I just need to talk with someone who is a bounty hunter and knows Spike," VT said.  
  
"Okay, shoot."  
  
"A trucker friend of mine recently got his ship into a hit and run and the perp was a five million bounty named Pouch Rolenzo, a junk dealer. Just thought you wanted to know," VT said.  
  
"Actually, right now we're about to catch Edmund Rome," Jet said. VT, on the other line, looked at Jet like he was crazy. "What?" Jet asked.  
  
"Nevermind, I don't have info on bounties that big," VT said. The door opened and in walked a hulk of a man. He stood at seven feet tall and was very muscular, looking like he could bench press a car. He had mostly short black hair, some long strands hung into his gold eyes. He walked in slowly and sat down at the bar, looking around at everyone in contempt. Everyone else turned away.  
  
"Sorry, I couldn't be of better help," VT said as she hung up the communicator and looked around for a second before spotting a man next to her, the big man. Her eyes went into shock and she turned to face him. She remembered him alright, she remembered everything...  
  
"Excuse me!" he yelled so the whole stop could hear him. "I'm a bounty hunter and I'm looking for a hacker that goes by the name Mo Use. If any of you have seen him, then tell me or I'll rip your throat out," he said.  
  
"Who the hell are you?!" one man asked from the back of the bar.  
  
The man squinted and saw a thin man at the back of the bar. "You!!" he shouted. The man's courage instantly diminished and he got up. He started to run for the door when the large man ran a few steps and picked up the thin man by his collar. The man struggled in mid-air. He was only 5'8 and the large man was 7 feet tall and extremely muscular. "What's your name?" the large man asked, menacingly.  
  
"Uhh... um... Phantom B," he said.  
  
The large man looked annoyed. He stared down at the thin man. "I mean your real name, trucker," he spat.  
  
The man looked around nervously. "Uh... Ulysses," he said.  
  
The large man burst into laughter. "You've got an old fashioned name, bud." He said. "Now, what do you know about the hacker, Mo Use?"  
  
"Pouch Rolenzo knows him," the man said. "But he's a bounty and..." the man didn't finish as the large man dropped him on his ass. The thin man flinched, then got up on shaky legs.  
  
"Pouch Rolenzo, huh?"  
  
VT waited for him to leave. She didn't want to get into a fight with him like last time and she seriously didn't want to get involved in his "business" anymore. Once he had squeezed info from the man, he would leave. VT and he would meet another day.

--  
  
Jet was trimming his bonsai as Spike walked in from the hanger. He yawned and sat on the couch to find Jet's eyes on his, filled with hope. "Nothing," Spike said and Jet let out a sigh.  
  
"You know..." Jet started. Spike opened his eyes and looked at his partner. Usually this tone meant something disappointing for him. He sighed himself. "A friend of yours called and said that she had information on a bounty that's only five million. We... we could use the repairs,"  
  
"Are you saying that we give up on Rome?" Spike asked.  
  
"Well, no not exactly," Jet said. He was the Black Dog, he didn't usually let go and what he was doing know was letting the bad guy go. This guy had killed cops and that was an offense to Jet. If he was still on the force, it could have been him that was killed.  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"Spike, we need some money so please, call her up and catch this guy," Jet said. "Look, I'll keep on Rome and if anything shows up, I'll let you know," Jet said.  
  
"I'm not one to keep anything hanging, Jet," Spike said. "Especially when we haven't found the guy yet."  
  
"Spike...... please."

--  
  
The beep came loud and Faye looked up from her magazines to see Edward smiling. "Edward has found it!" she shrieked and started throwing up her hands to cheer. Faye smiled as well.  
  
She knew that getting Edward to hack into M.A. files wasn't a bad idea. With their level of intelligence, Faye could get information way faster than a few rumors and, best of all, she could get that 50 million bounty all to herself. The whole genius of the plot was that Mo Use, the hacker that had cut Ed off last time, wasn't there.  
  
"Send it to my ship Ed," Faye said walking out.  
  
"Aye-aye," Edward said saluting and hitting a few buttons.  
  
As Faye was leaving, a thought hit her and she turned to Edward. "Oh and Ed," she turned. "Don't tell Jet or Spike about this, okay,"  
  
"Don't worry, Ed had Faye-Faye covered like a Christmas present," Faye could smell the money already.

--

Author's Note: I hope you readers out there enjoyed Chapter 2. Once again, I will be grateful for any insight. So please read and review. Thanks.


	4. To Protect and Destroy

To Kendra Luehr: Thanks for reviewing.

--

Chapter 3: To Protect and Destroy  
  
Taurus sat in the blue chair with a newspaper covering his face as he pretended to read it. His hands were sweaty and they smeared the ink. He wasn't exactly the best candidate for an ISSP undercover mission because of his nervous bladder. He found himself shaking and then stopped.  
  
"No big deal," he had told himself. But it was. Rome had killed about seven cops and a few bounty hunters and was still alive and Taurus knew that a few of those cops were better shooters than he was. The logic of the ISSP was screwed as far as Taurus knew and he was sick of it.  
  
Luckily, vacation time was coming.  
  
He tensed up as the door opened and in walked... a woman. He sighed; it wasn't Rome, not yet. He was so nervous he thought that he was going to vomit and he found himself switching the safety on and off on his gun to calm himself down.  
  
As the door opened again, he tensed up. He turned and saw... a man. Not Rome, either. Damn, he really needed a break.  
  
The door opened again and this time... a taller man. But not Rome.  
  
Then, by almost horrible luck, the door creaked again and he saw Rome. He was wearing a long brown trench coat, his red hair was wild and his blue eyes were dark. Finally, Taurus saw the tattoo of the rose on Rome's hand.  
  
This was real.

--  
  
"You sure about this?" Spike asked.  
  
"Yeah, the Brimingway Hotel in Downtown Alba. Trust me," VT said.  
  
Spike smiled. "What do you have against Rolenzo?"  
  
"Nothing, I just," VT started. Her head sunk. "Will you help me find a certain bounty hunter? I owe him something and he hasn't come to collect yet," VT said.  
  
"A bounty hunter?" Spike asked, a bit surprised. He thought that VT didn't associate with hunters anymore since her husband's death.  
  
"Can you?" VT asked.  
  
The grin grew wider. "Where again?"

--  
  
As Rome walked up to the desk, he felt a bit of relief. At least he had made it this far without being shot at. He felt a bit enlightened, his luck was finally looking up.  
  
"FREEZE!" someone yelled and Rome turned to see a gun pointed at his face.  
  
Or not...  
  
Rome started to raise his hands when he heard more guns being set. He turned to see the three people, the woman, the man, and the tall man, each had guns pointed at him. Or the man who had yelled 'FREEZE!'.  
  
"Oh no you don't, he's mine!" Faye, the woman, shouted.  
  
All the bounty hunters froze, looking at each other. "No wait, I'm hunting Rome," the man said. His gun was pointed at the cop.  
  
"What the hell?" the tall man asked.  
  
The cop was confused before he realized that they were all bounty hunters. "No, look. I'm ISSP, Rome is coming with me!" the cop, Taurus shouted.  
  
Then it hit the tall man. The man that the other two hunters were hunting was Edmund Rome. The tall man had heard of Edmund Rome, or rather the 50 million reward attached to Rome. The tall man smiled, these amateur hunters didn't look so hard, and the cop was shaking in his boots. "I'll say that he's coming with me," the tall man said as he pointed his gun at the cop and shot.  
  
Taurus heard the gunshot, then fell at the sharp pain in his leg. He shot him, that bastard had actually shot him! He yelled out and clutched his leg. "You shot me?" Taurus asked looking at the tall man.  
  
The tall man wasn't paying attention as he saw Faye and the other man pointing their guns at him. The tall man studied Faye for a second. Her suit was... revealing. He smiled and then turned to the man.... he had seen him before.  
  
Rome stood quietly, trying to sneak away. Getting caught or just in the crossfire was not his idea of a good time. When he moved, the felt all the guns move to him at once. He smiled and looked at the three determined bounty hunters. Then he thought he was caught, he really thought that he was done for.

"He's mine!" the man shouted and turned to fire at Faye and the tall man. The tall man fired his shot before the man could get his gun straight and the man fell back as the bullet entered his arm. Faye turned her head in surprise at the quickness at the shot and saw that Rome had also turned his head. Then Faye saw the tall man looking at the man he had shot. In a split second, she realized that this was her chance to get Rome.

Faye leveled the gun on Rome and told him to freeze when she heard a gunshot from the side.  
  
"What now?" Faye asked turning to see the gun. It was the cop again. He held the gun pointed at the tall man, it was smoking from the shot. In the background, the man was cursing because of the shot that the tall man had gave him. After that, things got confusing for Faye.  
  
The tall man moved to see that the shot had missed him by an inch and that his coat now had a hole in the shoulder area. He turned back to Taurus with annoyance in his eyes. "You're just a rookie right?" the tall man asked.  
  
"A-and you! A-ar-re j-ust a c-cowboy with no manners!" Taurus shouted, now feeling pathetic as he realized that he sounded just like his mother. _Eat your peas, Taurus  
_  
"One of the greatest cowboys ever and don't you forget it. In fact, since old T passed on, I'm the greatest. You can call me DT," the tall man said, bragging.  
  
"F-freeze or I'll f-fire a-a-again!" Taurus seemed to ignore DT's speech as he tried to hold the gun again but found that his hands were shaking so violently, the gun wasn't level enough to shoot even a person of DT's size. DT just raised his gun and held it pointed at the cop.  
  
"Sadly, I have hardly any tolerance for rookies," he said. The cop's face grew white he started shaking more violently. "But that little tolerance I do have is telling me to give you one last chance to give up your weapon," he said in a casual tone. Faye could have sworn that she saw a familiar colored liquid running out of the cop's pants but turned before she had to see that. Instead she kept her gun on Rome, who was trying to edge away from the situation.  
  
"I said freeze!" Faye yelled at the wrong time. The reason it was the wrong time was because everyone was silent when she did it and it caused all the bounty hunters to look at her. Then she felt a gun next to her temple. She didn't have to turn to know that the tall man had pulled another gun.  
  
"Enough!" the man who the tall man had shot pulled out his piece and pointed it at the tall man using his other arm. The tall man gave the man a sour look before returning to look at the cop, not even keeping an eye on Faye. His attention shifted from the cop to Rome. Rome turned very frightened all of a sudden. He turned around, looking for someone to hide behind.  
  
"I'll go with her!" he shouted, and with that he ran to Faye. The man looked confused, the cop was getting over the tension, but the tall man, DT, turned in anger.  
  
Faye was surprised to say the least. She had always wanted to catch Rome but not like this. Rome had just singled her out as the first target for DT, the man who got shot, and the shaking cop. 'I don't need this kind of attention,' she complained inside of her head. Then she looked as DT stepped forward.  
  
"What's your name?" he asked Faye.  
  
"Why is it any of your business?!" she demanded back. Then she stepped away from DT's gun, threw Rome forward into the desk, and shot at DT. Sadly, the bullets found their way back into his trench coat and not to his body. He turned to look at Faye with annoyance written on his face.  
  
"Hey, this happens to be one of my favorite coats!" he yelled. Then he turned and shot the gun out of Taurus's hands. "Look, I didn't even come here for Rome in the first place."  
  
"Than why are you hunting him?" the man screamed at DT.  
  
DT smirked. "Because he's worth some hefty wuolongs," he said. "I figured I could pick up some cash before I interrogated you, again." He pointed at the man that he had shot and his eyes widened. "Don't think that I don't remember you. Your tip was a lie so I'm back to clear it up. What a coincidence that Rome was here."  
  
Faye kept her gun pointed at DT. This whole thing was getting too confusing for her. It was that moment that everything got a little out of hand. Taurus picked up his gun and shot at DT. DT shot at the man, the man ran. Faye ducked and Rome sprinted towards the stairs.  
  
Faye saw this and fired two shots. Both of which ended up on the walls around the stairwell as Rome managed to get up the stairs. Faye ran after him quickly and DT seemed to catch up as quick.

--

The man was left alone with the cop. The cop looked up at the man. "C-could you p-please call an am-bul- ance," the cop asked.  
  
"Hell no," the man said as he held his arm in pain. He had to get out quick. He turned to the exit, which was actually open and decided that now was a good time to leave. He didn't care what Rally would say.

--  
  
Faye had somehow managed to keep on Rome and still remain a floor above DT somehow. She didn't know how but she could only guess that some god liked her. Rome ran fast but Faye didn't have any trouble keeping up. She turned her gun and aimed at his legs, hoping just to get him where it wouldn't kill him. She fired three times. She had got him. She watched him go down and she could smell the money again. At least, she dreamed that.  
  
What shattered her reality is that somehow, a bullet had it left of his legs, right of his legs, and in the middle. Hitting what was empty air but getting extremely close. "No way in hell," she swore to herself. She could imagine a little Jet saying 'I told you so' over and over. Then she cursed a little more before increasing her speed. She aimed the gun, steadily at Rome and waited for the right shot.  
  
Out of nowhere, a small round object started to bounce next to her. Faye looked at it in confusion for a second before realizing what it was. "Double shit!" she yelled as she turned into one of the hotel rooms that the maid was cleaning. Just in time to see a lot of the hallway explode.  
  
Through the smoke, she couldn't see much but did catch a very big figure running into the smoke. "That bastard!" Faye swore.

--  
  
The man was almost there. Almost out of the door. Almost to freedom when... A gun was pushed against his forehead. "You'd better stop," a cool voice said. The man opened his eyes to see someone standing in front of him. He was about as tall as the man. He wore mostly blue, with a yellow shirt underneath and a black tie. He had something close to an afro of green hair and two different colored eyes.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Just an ordinary cowboy."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"And you are the worst bounty hunter poser that I've ever seen, Pouch Rolenzo."

--  
  
Rome looked back and saw the smoke clearing. He would have smiled except that he saw DT emerge from the smoke. Rome gritted his teeth. Of all the hunters, it had to be that guy. Rome could tell that he was good, better than the woman or the man. He knew that the same tactic he had used for the rest wouldn't exactly work.  
  
His only hope was to try and outrun the hulk of a bounty hunter. Rome hoped that his slim physique would allow him to stay ahead while the man's bulk kept him at a distance.  
  
Rome looked back again and saw the man closer seven feet behind him. 'Shit!' he cursed in his mind as he tried to increase his pace.  
  
DT smiled and took out his gun. He took a steady aim, pointed and fired. Rome, a few feet ahead, felt a searing hot pain in his shoulder. He averted his eyes and raised his hands, making him lose his balance. The ground was there to meet his jaw and send waves of pain through it. As he fell, he heard the footsteps cease and realized that a certain someone had stopped right behind him.  
  
He turned his head to see DT standing, blowing the smoke from his gun before twirling it by the trigger and putting it back into his belt. Then he smiled at Rome. "Must be my lucky day... You know, they say that you killed some cops..." DT started before his smile disappeared and he yawned. Rome just sat looking in terror. "But, I'm no cop and I'm certainly not an amateur. You should have just given up so I wouldn't have had to shoot you. But then again, you should consider it an honor to get shot by a legend!" DT put emphasis on the word 'legend.'  
  
Rome had a look of surprise on his face. Actually it was a look that stood between shock and nausea. He was shocked that the man who had shot him was telling him it was an honor and felt sick as he was about to pass out.  
  
"Now, get up and I won't go too hard on ya..." DT said holding out his hand for Rome to grab.  
  
"FREEZE!!"  
  
DT let his hand drop and turned to see a certain female bounty hunter.  
  
"Hello, beautiful."

--

A/N: Chapter 4 will be posted very soon. Please read and review. Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thank you, I hope you enjoyed it.


	5. Temporary Insanity

HelpComputah: Thanks a bunch for the review. I hope you enjoy this action segment as well.

Kendra Luehr: I guess you'll have to wait and find out. Thank you very much for the review.

--

Chapter 4: Temporary Insanity  
  
"Pouch Rolenzo!? What are you talking about?" the man questioned angrily. "I'm not him, are you crazy?!" the man screamed at Spike, who just looked bored.  
  
Spike smirked. "You're a bad liar too."  
  
The man was about to respond when a huge booming noise was heard. Spike turned his head in confusion to see rubble spill down the stairs like water. Instantly, he identified the noise to an explosion. "Shit! What the hell is happening?" Spike asked in an annoyed tone to no one in particular.  
  
While Spike was momentarily distracted, Rolenzo decided to make his move. He pushed back on his foot and started into a sprint, roughly brushing past Spike. He expected to make it to the door. What he didn't expect was to find a fist where his head would be in a moment.  
  
One moment later, Rolenzo was dazed, lying on the ground with one of his teeth missing and on the verge of passing out. _I'm so tired of this crap. Dammit, Rally!_  
  
Spike dragged his bounty to the register and looked at the shivering cop kneeling in the corner. "Hey buddy, you got some spare cuffs?"  
  
Spike wasn't expecting the cop to start bursting out in insane laughter. "Damn bounty hunters... DT... Mama, I don't want to go to school!!" Spike picked up bits and pieces of a mad rambling. "Rome... Rome!!"  
  
"What's his deal? Wait... he mentioned Rome!"

--  
  
Faye growled. She had been led straight into a trap, had somewhat of a fatal standoff, almost got shot, and to top it off, nearly avoided getting her ass blown off. The last thing she needed was some giant perverted bounty hunter telling her how good she looked.  
  
Her hair was ruffled and shot off in all directions, her gloves had holes singed in them, her jacket had been torn in half, and burn marks were visible on her "pale, beautiful skin." She stood in anger with her gun pointed at the large bounty hunter, only an inch away from blowing HIM away.  
  
"Get away from... Rome..." Faye said, catching her breath.  
  
DT smiled and turned around to face Faye. "Baby, how are you going to apprehend this bounty? Even if I do get away, do you think you can catch him and hold me back at the same time?"  
  
Faye considered what he was saying but blocked out how logical the answer was. She didn't need to hear it.  
  
DT took a step toward her. "How's this, I'll turn in the bounty and pay you a certain amount."  
  
She was getting suspicious of him but her ears perked up when she heard the offer. "Ok, I want fifty percent!" She demanded loudly, not caring anymore about how she sounded.  
  
She was answered by a loud laugh from DT as he turned back to her. "Fifty? I was thinking a little less. How 'bout five," DT proposed.  
  
Faye's face lit up in anger. "Five? What the hell is that, a finder's fee?! I'm not a cop!"  
  
Rome tried to look upon the situation but his vision was too blurry. All he could make out was shapes of bodies. He saw the female bounty hunter he had tried to hide behind before and of course, DT. _Dammit! If they make a deal, I'm through!_ he thought, trying to pull himself up. Then he felt the pain in his shoulder and let out an involuntary groan, luckily no one heard. He reached his hand to his shoulder to feel the wound.  
  
Nervously, he felt around for the bullet, not really knowing what he would do when he found it. Nevertheless, he realized that he had to get it out or it would continue to cause him problems.  
  
Then, to his shock, he felt something else. It wasn't a bullet at all. It was... nothing!? Rome then remembered that the kid hunter from before had injured him in the same place. He had just torn the wound back open again.  
  
Rome felt like an idiot. He pulled himself up quickly and tried to see what was ahead of him When he had a general idea of what he was seeing, an idea hit him. He squinted, focused his eyesight, and turned, breaking out into a run. The corner was up ahead, he could see it drawing closer. Then he heard gunshots and dived as two bullets passed over head and hit the window behind him, shattering the glass. He smiled and thanked Lady Luck.  
  
He had had a lot of it lately. His luck then only increased when he saw an elevator in the distance.  
  
Faye cursed before running forward only to see DT pull another grenade out of his pocket. "See ya, doll!" he shouted then he tossed it back.  
  
Faye stopped dead in her tracks and ran in the opposite direction for the second time, diving into the only safe area: The laundry chute.  
  
Moments later Faye found herself in a place that didn't smell too good...

--  
  
Edmund Rome had managed to get into the elevator before DT could catch up. The door had closed right in DT's face and immediately took off upward. Rome sighed. _I finally lost him..._  
  
He felt the need to scream about the glory of whatever god he worshipped. He felt like he should preach from the skyscrapers; that was how happy he was to be alive. However, this happiness was short lived.  
  
"Freeze."  
  
"Aw, shit..."  
  
Spike smiled as he held the gun to Rome's head. "I'll never understand why people get tattoos. It's almost the same as prison bar codes. You know the ones you get on your neck?" Spike asked.  
  
Rome couldn't believe it. He felt like he was stuck in a war between karma and luck. "Another bounty hunter?"  
  
"Hmm?" Spike's eyebrow raised a bit as he questioned what Rome meant.  
  
Rome just shook his head as the elevator hit the top floor and the doors opened to the roof. "You don't want to know." He said closing his eyes and walking out onto the roof.  
  
"Tell me, I want to know!" Rome froze as he opened his eyes. On the other side of the roof was DT, his gun pointed at either Spike or Rome and at the moment, Rome didn't know or care. He just wanted to get the hell out.  
  
"Who are you?" Spike said as he raised his gun and pointed it at the massive hunter.  
  
DT smiled. "You can call me DT. The greatest bounty hunter in the entire galaxy!" DT bragged.  
  
Spike's face broke into a smirk. "Is that so? Guess I'll have to see that, won't I?" He said, hints of amusement in his voice. It had been a while since he had an entertaining hunt and this was turning out to be just that. Spike wasn't about to ruin his fun.  
  
"Hey, you asked for it!" DT said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a sawed off shotgun. He raised it to Spike's level and took aim. "Can ya dodge or are ya durable enough, hombre?" Then he grinned and fired. Spike dived to the left and emptied his clip but only managed to hit air and DT's coat.  
  
DT looked down at the coat in frustration. "Why the hell is everyone shooting my coat?!"  
  
Spike reloaded and fired. It was a clear shot as the bullet traveled through the windy air and lodged itself in DT's bicep. "SSHHIIIT!!" DT yelled as he grabbed his arm in pain. He dropped the shotgun and turned back to Spike. "Damn, do you even know how much that hurts!? Shit, it's been awhile since I've been shot..." DT's smirk matched Spike's. "What's your name, cowboy?"  
  
Spike kept his gun on DT. "Spike Spiegel."  
  
DT pulled out a handgun with his other arm. "Name's Destructive Troy. Don't forget it..."  
  
Spike was silent as he aimed.  
  
DT aimed as well, keeping his arm straight.  
  
Rome looked around, seeking an opportunity to escape.  
  
As Spike was about to pull the trigger, he heard a loud noise and turned to see a ship rise by the roof. He soon recognized it as the Redtail. "What the f-" his voice was drowned out by the engines. DT looked just as confused.  
  
Rome took the opportunity to jump into an elevator.  
  
Spike was too distracted to even notice as Faye yelled something close to: "Eat this!" and then launched missiles. Actual missiles!  
  
Spike had to dive as explosions filled the roof, blowing holes and sending metal chunks everywhere.  
  
DT covered his face with his arm. "That bitch is crazy!" he yelled. Then he turned and hit a button on his watch. He waited a moment and waved goodbye to confused Spike before jumping off of the roof. For a moment, Spike thought that he had committed suicide but then he saw that a mono racer was rushing up to meet the fallen hunter.  
  
He watched as DT landed gracefully on the racer and fly while another explosion pushing him off of the roof.

--  
  
When Faye was done with her missile barrage, her anger had subsided only a little and she was still growling. She would remember to pay that guy back. When the smoke cleared though, other thoughts filled her mind. The biggest one sang out:  
  
"Holy shit!"  
  
She had feared that she had killed Spike. Not like she would have missed him but then she remembered how furious Jet had been with her before and imagined a tiny Jet cursing at her over and over again. Her eyes widened as she thought of all the consequences. Of course, the damage costs for the hotel would be phenomenal...  
  
Faye's thoughts were interrupted as she saw Spike pull himself up onto the roof from what seemed to be a loose pipe that was hardly supporting him. Dust clouded his face and when he had fully pulled himself up, he looked at Faye in anger.  
  
"You crazy bitch!!!" was all she heard before she decided to take off. She looked over her clothes and at all the dust and burn marks that had stained her skin.  
  
_I need a shower..._

--

A/N: Chapter 5 might take a while to post. I hope that everyone reading enjoyed Chapter 4. Please read and review. Thanks.


	6. Heart Piercer

To Kendra Luehr and HelpComputah: Thanks for reviewing. Your insight has been a great inspiration to continue this story.

--

Chapter 5: Heart Piercer  
  
Jet scratched his fake arm. He had found it to be very itchy that day and that was something that deeply disturbed him. The reason for this was because the arm only itched in bad situations. Very bad situations. The last time it had happened was on Callisto with the whole Gren situation. If it was happening again now, Jet knew that something bad was headed his way. Hell, even without the arm he could have known that.  
  
"Damn crew always screwing everything up..." Jet mumbled to himself. He was about to wonder why he even kept them around. Then he remembered that he was the one who wanted them all back on Callisto. That made Jet a bit angry. "Nothing but trouble..." he mumbled again.  
  
He slowly trimmed his bonsais, carefully and cautiously. This was an art that required delicacy, something he wanted Spike and Faye to learn. Also, it currently held his interest because Rome's info well had just dried up and Jet found himself with no more leads. He could only hope that Spike got Rolenzo.  
  
With his luck though, something must have gotten destroyed in the process.  
  
The hanger opened and in walked Spike, covered in dust and burn marks. Jet sighed and realized that he had jinxed it. He was almost sure that whatever god he worshipped was punishing him.  
  
There was an awkward silence then as Spike turned to face Jet with a look on his face that Jet couldn't recognize. Then he saw that it was exhaustion. Spike looked like he had been through the circles of hell in under an hour and managed to get blown up in the process. Jet could only hope that they wouldn't get stuck with a fee.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Where's the girl?"  
  
"She hasn't come back yet. Why do you care?"  
  
Spike growled before turning back to Jet. "This whole set up you got..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Never mind!" Spike was irritated; even a blind man could see that. Jet decided that he wouldn't push it. All that really mattered was that he got the bounty. When Spike walked down the stairs, Jet could see that he was dragging someone with him. Suddenly, his attitude lightened a bit.  
  
"Pouch Rolenzo..." Spike said as he let go. Jet saw that the man, who was taller than Spike, had been knocked out cold. It didn't surprise him any though. If Spike was angry enough, he could probably kill someone twice his size.  
  
The problem was.... "Are you sure he's still alive?" Jet asked with uncertainty in his voice.  
  
"Trust me; he's still in the game."  
  
"Why didn't you drop him off at ISSP?"  
  
"Not enough fuel," Spike didn't say the rest which consisted of: _that wench stole my fuel for her Rambo exit!  
_  
"Where's Faye?"  
  
Spike's growl changed to a smirk. "Don't know but you'd better find her before I do..."

--  
  
Faye knew that the Swordfish in the hanger was the sign of her death sentence. Regardless, the last of the fuel she had stolen from the Swordfish was running very short. She had considered a hit and run but was afraid that Jet would catch her again. She didn't want to get chewed out. If anything, she wanted a shower and a nap.  
  
That was why Faye decided to land.  
  
She was cautious walking through the seemingly empty halls of the Bebop, knowing that at any moment, Spike and Jet would appear out of nowhere. She just had to make it to the bathroom....  
  
Almost there...  
  
She was relieved to feel the curtain that blocked off the shower area and pulled it back without thinking about what would greet her on the other side...

--  
  
Jet's head turned sharply as he heard a very feminine scream coming from the shower area. The head wasn't Jet's only reaction though. At the same time, his hand shook and he managed to cut off an entire branch of his bonsai. Getting up (trimmers in hand) and swearing immensely, Jet ran toward the shower area.  
  
He wondered again why he kept his crew around before he turned the corner and saw it. Faye was pressed against the wall with a look of horror on her face as Ed emerged from the bathtub and started to run all over the place, bits of bubble bath soap covering the right places.  
  
It was a good minute before Ed settled back into the bathtub again, which only contained half the water it did before. "Does Faye-Faye want to bathe with Edward?" Ed asked in her best impression of a seductive voice.  
  
Spike, who had just walked in, burst in laughter. "Yeah, Faye-Faye..." he said, causing Faye to turn red with anger.  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
BARK!  
  
"You take a bath with that mutt?!"  
  
"Gross!"  
  
Jet growled and walked off. That was a waste of his time. Yes, he didn't need the crew at all.

--  
  
After they had both told Jet what had happened, Spike and Faye realized that a vain was about ready to pop on his head. Spike knew that getting into an argument would only increase the vain so he decided to lay back with a pack of smokes.  
  
"...Not like we can do anything anyway...." Spike finished.  
  
Jet was quiet for a moment. His eyes were closed and it looked like he was praying but Spike could tell that he was just in deep thought. There was a few minutes of silence before Jet spoke up again: "Another bounty hunter huh?"  
  
"Yeah, what an ego trip!" Faye complained.  
  
Spike blew out some smoke. "Spike?"  
  
"Called himself legendary or something. He looked like he was good enough. Although I never got a chance to see because SOMEONE had to explode the goddamn roof..." Spike's voice wasn't as angry as Jet thought it would be, more full of annoyance and what he thought was a bit of disappointment.  
  
"Hey, if it wasn't for me you'd probably be dead now. That guy used grenades..." As Faye rambled on Spike could swear that he picked up a horrible stench but he couldn't tell where. At the same time Jet started to sniff and looked around the room.  
  
"You smell that Jet?" Spike asked, interrupting Faye. Jet sniffed again and his face turned into a mix of twisted agony and surprise.  
  
"What the hell? That's smells like..."  
  
"Something rancid..."  
  
Faye closed her eyes and began to growl. "Hey, I...!" before she could finish, the communicator rang and Jet picked it up.  
  
"Hello..."  
  
"Hey again..."  
  
"Oh, it's you.... I'll put Spike on," Jet said as he threw the communicator to Spike. Spike caught it and looked into the screen.  
  
"Yo, hold on. I'm gonna transfer you to computer," Spike said, pushing a few buttons of the communicator before a screen appeared on the computer. Faye was surprised to see that trucker from a while ago.  
  
"Hey, I remember you!" Faye said.  
  
"Yeah, whatever," VT said, and then she turned her attention to Spike. "How was the bounty?"  
  
"Rolenzo?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"There were a few problems but we got him," Spike said, brushing it off like it was nothing. It was then that Faye noticed that there was a body tied to the latter. She was surprised to find that it was the man who was in their standoff.  
  
_This is getting a bit weird..._  
  
VT smiled. "Good, now for my favor."  
  
"We're not giving you five percent for finder's fee!" Faye yelled in the background.  
  
Spike ignored her and turned back to VT. "You said a bounty hunter?"  
  
"Yeah, I was wondering you can help me find him. But I'll have to ask you to be careful..."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "What's his name?"

"His birth name is Troy McGallis but everyone calls him Destructive Troy the Heart-Piercer. I suppose that right now, he's the best bounty hunter alive."  
  
Spike's eyes opened wide in surprise as he remembered the bounty hunter from the hotel. Then he smiled and turned to VT. "Actually, we've met before. I can't really say he's a pushover..."  
  
It was VT's turn to be shocked then. He was joking right? VT figured that it had to be a joke. But then again... Spike wasn't just an average hunter... Her mind was everywhere at once then as she began to spit out questions at random.  
  
"Where is he? Did you hurt him? Tell me dammit!" VT almost demanded the last one.  
  
On the other side, Spike found himself taken aback by the sudden change from calm to angry. Spike just smirked. "Something tells me that you two have a rather personal issue to work out here," Spike replied, his voice full of amusement.  
  
VT's face would have erupted into anger if the painful memories hadn't swept back. Her face then turned to a sad lamenting face. One that Spike wouldn't expect to see on a strong woman like her. It surprised him to say the least. "He... he is.... responsible for... my husband's death....."  
  
VT tilted her head down so no one could see her face. "I can't say that, I've gotten over that. But I'll be damned if I just let him walk away." Her voice had changed back to her cold voice.  
  
If VT looked up, she would have seen Spike's eyes were full of something resembling sad remorse but she didn't. Spike gave this look when he would come in contact with the sadness of others. Like he knew what they had been though. He couldn't pretend that he hadn't.  
  
"Do you want me to kill him?" Spike asked.  
  
Jet looked surprised. This was probably the first time that he had seen Spike so straight forward on anything. He wasn't really one to get involved in someone else's business.  
  
"I just need you to find him for me. If it isn't too much trouble that is..."  
  
Spike's eyes narrowed. "And what do you plan to do once you find him?"  
  
VT looked up; her eyes had red circles around them. "We'll just have to find out..."  
  
Spike let the tension loose and closed his eyes, smiling. "Destructive Troy the Heart-Piercer? Sounds interesting..."  
  
Jet's arm started to itch like crazy.

--

A/N: Please read and review. Thanks. Chapter 6 will be up soon enough. Sorry for the wait on Chapter 5.


	7. The Players

To HelpComputah and Kendra Luehr (my only reviewers): Thank you. You both have been very influential and helped me update faster than I expecting. Thank you for reviewing.

--

Chapter 6: The Players  
  
He sat in the dark looming over the laptop. The light from the computer in the thick darkness was just a dull glow to him. He had spent the good part of his life slumped over the laptop, seeing what he could steal or screw up or bend to his will. Soon, Earth satellites had become too easy and he turned to buildings, ships, and even cities. He had been directly responsible for the largest black out on Alba City.  
  
So naturally, hacking into government and syndicate files was a piece of cake. It only took a few minutes to get a beeping noise meaning satisfaction. He looked down eagerly at the screen.  
  
He had brought up four files and were looking them over, studying the facts well enough to at least try and conjure them up from memory. Jet Black was the first bio he had read. Followed by a Miles Coltrane, which was obviously a fake name. He wondered who would be that big of an idiot to choose the names of two famous jazz legends and horrifically merge them together. Only an idiot or a cocky bastard would do that.  
  
He read Faye Valentine's over quickly before skipping to Francois Lutvin. He knew almost instantly that she was the one known as Radical Edward. He wouldn't forget her style. She was the one who gave him the greatest challenge. The adrenaline that he hardly got for hacking anymore. All because it had become so easy.  
  
At the same time, he was mad that he had almost been beaten by a little girl. He didn't see how she could possess such vast knowledge of the hacking trade, as he liked to call it, when it had taken him at least half his life and that was about the age of Radical Edward. Then suddenly his frown was replaced by a smirk.  
  
"A child prodigy..."  
  
For once, Rally was excited and nervous about how this would work. He couldn't say that it felt bad.

--  
  
"So," Spike said, leaning against the couch and draping one arm across. "What's this guy's story?"  
  
VT's face remained neutral as she explained. "Rumor has it that he grew up in a slum on Mars. All the men in his family were naturally tall which is why he's a giant. He was poor then killed a guy when he was thirteen, you know all that BS you hear when you see a gangster movie. Somehow, he ended up being a bounty hunter. He was my husband's rival. They used to go head to head all the time for bounties and as I recall, they tied in the end. He obviously hates being tied with," VT said, only to see Spike yawn. She raised an eyebrow. "Heart-Piercer?" he asked, letting her know that he was still paying attention.  
  
VT shrugged. "The legend goes that he shot a man in the heart from three hundred feet away when he was wearing a cavalier. Don't know how the hell he did it..."  
  
Spike smiled. "That's only if you believe in that stuff. Legends are usually lies."  
  
"Regardless, he's a dangerous person. I'd advise ya to keep your distance when battling because he has a shitload of explosives on him," VT said. In the background, Spike could hear Faye saying something close to 'amen.'  
  
Spike turned back to VT. "So why all of a sudden? Why not before when your husband bought the farm?"  
  
"I didn't know where he was," VT explained. "He has the knack for disappearing quickly. That bastard can escape pretty well.... Guess you know now why I didn't like bounty hunters."  
  
"Not even bounty hunters like bounty hunters... so what's the story?"

--  
  
Leo practically choked on the shit that they dared call coffee. But despite its bad taste, he downed it. He needed the energy. The last few days had been nothing short of hectic. He blamed his partner, Taurus. Who had been doing nothing but talking non-stop about how he wanted to kill bounty hunters.  
  
Now, cops didn't really like hunters but Leo realized that the level of obsession that Taurus was experiencing was NOT healthy. Such things as stealing mannequins and using them for target practice in the middle of night had almost got Taurus arrested himself. Leo wondered what the hell kind of shock Taurus was going through but soon decided that he didn't want to know.  
  
Right now, Leo was going to the NOTORIOUS man himself to pick him up. When Taurus answered the door, he looked around behind Leo to see if anyone was there. "Did you come alone?!" Taurus asked his voice frantic.  
  
Leo just rolled his eyes. He was so sick of this. "Taurus..." he said trying to push the door open. Taurus held it though and Leo was forced halfway between the door and outside, a very uncomfortable position for him to be in.  
  
"Stop!! They're here! I know it! They're using the bushes for cover!!" Taurus whispered loudly.  
  
Leo gritted his teeth. "Taurus, you live in an apartment..." he just watched Taurus nod dumbly. "There ain't nothing out there but a goddamn hallway!" Then he forced himself in.  
  
Taurus wasn't expecting it and fell down on the ground, nervous. He reached around quickly and found an empty can of beer. Then he held it up and as to throw it at Leo. "I'll use it! I knew you were with them!" Taurus yelled. Then he threw it.  
  
Standing there with a look of pure annoyance on his face, Leo let the beer can bounce off his arm before lowering himself to Taurus and backhanding him across the face. "Snap out of it! Your ISSP you dumb bastard!" Leo yelled. He had had enough of this. He just hoped that the slap would snap Taurus out of it.  
  
Fortunately that was what happened. Taurus calmed down and his breathing returned to normal. Leo could imagine that he was gaining his rational thought right before his eyes as Taurus stood up and rubbed his cheek. Then he turned to Leo. "Whoa... thanks. I totally went overboard there. It's just that...."  
  
Leo waited as Taurus clenched his hands. "Damn Rome and that other bastard, DT! And that Rolenzo and that chick! Dammit!" Taurus yelled before he turned back to Leo who, during this emotional cry, was looking at his watch before looking back up at Taurus.  
  
"Yeah, whatever. The chief sent me to tell you that me and you are assigned to find Rome. He woulda told you himself if you hadn't disconnecting the phone from the wall," Leo said. This caused Taurus to look back and see that his phone was at the other side of the room and broken in half. He didn't even remember doing that. He forgot it then as he turned back to Leo.  
  
"I'll gear up but before that we need to get a sketch artist. I need a match on some... annoying bounty hunters," Taurus said. Leo just nodded before walking through the trash piles back to the door.  
  
"Hey, how did you enjoy it?" was Leo's final question.  
  
"Enjoy what?"  
  
"Your vacation week."  
  
"My.... VACATION WEEK!?!"  
  
"Yeah this whole week you spent in your house, your vacation time."  
  
"Ah shit!"  
  
For once in a few days Leo laughed.

--  
  
"He walked into the bar I was at and demanded that someone tell him about a hacker named Mo Use," VT said. "Made it sound important. You know him?"  
  
"Bad hacker person!!" Ed screamed when everyone was silent before fake crying. "He cut me off!"  
  
Faye and Jet were growing more confused as the explanation got more and more angles. Jet was a man of logic so he tried to make it seem like he understood everything. Faye didn't really care; she just wanted the money on Rome. She silently hoped that Rome was connected to this some other way then all of them hunting him. The smell of money was coming back to her.  
  
"Anyway," VT responded, "It turns out that him and your boy there know each other. You might want to question him when he wakes up."  
  
By some divine timing, they heard a groan and everyone turned to see Pouch Rolenzo coming to. "Must be my lucky day," Spike said as he walked over to Pouch and smiled as Pouch looked up. It only took Pouch a second to realize he was tied up. Then his anger melted into fear and then he tried to hide that as well. "Like I said you aren't that great of a liar."  
  
Pouch gritted his teeth. "You have the wrong person!"  
  
"You tried that one already." Now Spike had stopped being amused and irritation was kicking in. "Who's Mo Use?"  
  
"I don't know anyone named Mo Use!"  
  
Spike sighed, closing his eyes and letting out a yawn before turning back to Pouch. "I don't want to resort to torture. Doesn't look good on the karma thing, you know?"  
  
"But Rall-" Pouch must have spit out something he shouldn't have because then he closed his eyes and his mouth. When Spike tried to speak to him again, he just shook his head and ignored him. For a moment, Spike actually thought that he was going to have to torture him. He even threatened it...  
  
A moment later, Pouch had cried out at the sharp pain in his shin. Successful at breaking his vow of silence, Pouch looked at the Spike who was actually watching in surprise, his hand was scratching the back of his head as he looked at the scene in front of him.  
  
Faye was standing forward with her sharp heel jammed into Pouch's shin. She was looking more annoyed than Spike was and her teeth were gritted. Pouch looked at her in surprise before crying out again as Faye pushed on her heel. "I'm so sick of eating dog food and there are at least two other places on your body where this would hurt much more than it does here... now talk!"  
  
Jet was surprised to find that it worked as Pouch started to talk. "Uh, Mo Use is the alias Rally goes under. He's a really good hacker," Pouch said.  
  
"Who the hell is Rally?" Faye asked.  
  
"My brother, he's younger by two years."  
  
"Why is he after us?"  
  
"What?.... ARGH!!" Faye drove her heel in again to see Pouch talk twice as fast. "He... he heard that you guys were competition and when he found Radical Edward in side, he cut you off!" Pouch said, then he felt Faye's heel being lifted from his shin and he let out a deep breath.  
  
"And what does he know about Rome?"  
  
"Rome? Who's Rome?" This time, Faye found a much more painful spot. Jet turned away, he just couldn't watch. Spike had also respectively turned his head while Ed watched in amusement.  
  
Pouch groaned before speaking in a hoarse voice: "He said that if I couldn't catch Rome at the hotel, the gate would have to do. He said that Rome was planning... to leave Mars!"  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Would I be lying?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe I need to put on more weight..."  
  
"No, I'm telling the truth! I SWEAR!!"  
  
"You'd better be."  
  
Spike smiled as Faye walked by. "A woman's touch?" he asked in amusement.  
  
"Say all you want but I'm going to be the one that's 50 million richer!"  
  
"You're going to make a casino 50 million richer..."

--  
  
Rome had somehow managed to get away. He was relieved to find that the bounty hunters were distracted with each other and was more relieved that he wasn't on the roof when the female hunter had blown it to hell.  
  
"I thought I was picking the delicate one."  
  
After that, he went back to his thoughts. He had to figure out how to get off Mars. He realized that with the cops, the feds, and a bunch of crazy hunters on his back, there was no way he could stay. He cursed having the tattoo of a rose on his hand. He had almost forgot why he got it in the first place.  
  
Almost...  
  
The most logical option was to try and disguise himself but he didn't have any disguises. His red hair and dark blue eyes made him very easy to spot, not to mention the tattoo. Since he couldn't risk being carried out in a freight (he wasn't sure if the cargo holds had enough oxygen to breathe) the only option was the most illogical of them all:  
  
Try and leave traditionally. Of course, there would be cops everywhere and the hunters. It was a big risk and he had a nil chance of actually escaping but it didn't matter. Either way he was dead. That was how he figured it, he had nothing to lose.  
  
"Lady Luck's been on my side this far... I just hope she'll be generous for the other half..." Rome smiled and realized that even if he died, it was probably what he deserved. Everyone had be responsible for their own deeds.  
  
_Welcome to life, Rome..._

_--_  
  
"8000 wuolongs? What for, I just gave it to ya to look at!" DT shouted at the mechanic. Now, the mechanic was very strong and intimidating, he had always been able to get away with scamming because everyone who had come in was shorter than him. Now he saw the bad karma in it.  
  
DT had stood a foot above the man, was larger and looked stronger. He somehow got away with being more handsome but that wasn't a hard thing, considering the mechanic looked like a cross between a fat Elvis, a biker, and a date rapist.  
  
"Okay," the mechanic said, "How about 4000?"  
  
"300."  
  
"300!?!"  
  
"300." "Come on pal, I..." the mechanic then found himself being lifted off of the ground. He was shoved against the wall by the hulk of a man and suddenly he started to grow very uncomfortable. He didn't doubt that DT had half a mind to beat the shit out of him. "Okay, 300."  
  
DT smiled. "Doesn't 250 sound so much better?"  
  
The mechanic gave a nervous smile.

--  
  
When they dropped Pouch off at the authorities for the 5 mil, a silence had grown over the Bebop. Jet didn't ask what was going on because he knew that his crew was trying to form plans in their crazy minds. Jet didn't even want to think about it because he knew that Spike never followed through with his plans and Faye always screwed them up. Jet and Ed were the only ones who made good plans and now, it was up to Jet to figure one out.  
  
"How about we all go after him and split the bounty 50/50/50?" Faye suggested, braking the silence.  
  
Spike scoffed. "AKA 90/5/5, right?"  
  
Faye would have responded if Jet hadn't spoke up. "Okay, I have an idea."  
  
"What?" Faye and Spike both spoke at the same time.  
  
"We work on this... together for once," Jet suggested. Once he was finished, he found Faye's angry face looking at him. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What is this? Family therapy? Let's just divide and conquer. That's how we always do it!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Hmm..." Jet said. He never had much confidence in the idea in the first place. It just didn't seem like something that his crew would do so he didn't expect them to say so. "What about you Spike?"  
  
Spike lifted his head up from the couch and stretched before standing up and walking away from Jet and Faye. Before he had left the room, he turned. "You do what you want. I've got someone else to take care of..."  
  
Faye smiled and turned back to Jet. "How's 70/30?"

--  
  
Rally Rolenzo closed the laptop and loaded his gun. He had used it before, just never on people. Now that his brother was in jail, he would have to do it himself. He would get the bounty for Rome all by himself. He had it all planned out so that he, and only he would get the bounty.  
  
That didn't mean he didn't want resistance. He secretly hoped that he would run into Radical Edward once again.

--  
  
Leo and Taurus were in a ship, in disguise once again and cruising in the skies above Alba. Leo hated it. Taurus couldn't say he felt the same way. He was shaking in his seat, anxious to meet them all again. "Damn bounty hunters..." he whispered.  
  
"What was that?" Leo asked.  
  
"Nothing."

--  
  
Edmund Rome was almost there. He could see the gate ahead. All he had to do was charge through it and avoid the cops and he was home free. Straight to Venus or Ganymede or any other planet beyond. For once, he wasn't as scared as he was excited.  
  
Still, he wasn't there yet.  
  
But he was close...

--  
  
A rainy day...

His rival had died in the streets that day. It had been more or less his fault but Destructive Troy refused to make amends. "Bounty hunters know the dangers of their work."  
  
His excuse for killing.  
  
"Even some fear in his eyes," he said as he thought of the fuzzy haired bounty hunter who had challenged him on the roof.

--  
  
Spike smiled as he loaded his gun, turned and aimed very quickly. Then he pulled the trigger.  
  
"Perfect shot..."  
  
He extended his hand out in the shape of a gun:  
  
"BANG!"

--

A/N: Next chapter is the big action chapter. It might be a while until I get around to it though. I hope you enjoyed this chapter for what it was for. Please Read and Review. Thanks.


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